A Time to Heal
by Aelan Greenleaf
Summary: After an injury, Tucker must face the long road to recovery and the changes that come along with it.... Ch. 2 up
1. Chapter One

  
  


The ship shook violently as another volley of shots from the enemy ship hit them. Consoles around the bridge exploded, and Captain Jonathon Archer squinted to see through the smoke that floated up in the stagnant air. 

His hand slammed down onto his chair's armrest, activating the communication unit placed upon. "Report!" he yelled out, directing his call to Engineering. 

"Power's fluctuatin' on decks ten an' twelve, sir!" Archer could hear the harried voice of Chief Engineer Charles Tucker come through. "Aft hull plating is gone, and the portside's just barely hangin' on." 

Damn! thought Archer. "What about the weapons systems? Can you redirect some power to them?" 

The other end was quiet a moment, then Tucker's voice came through once more. "I can give just enough power for one last volley from the phasers, but that's it." 

"That's good enough. Archer out." He hit the control to end the conversation with his right hand, then turned his attention over to Malcolm Reed. "You heard him, Malcolm. Target the remaining torpedo and whatever phaser power we have left onto the Terisian's port nacelle. Punch through their shields with the phasers first, and on my mark, launch the torpedo. 

The British armoury officer nodded, then quickly went to work. 

"Travis, move us so that our portside is facing them. I don't work them firing onto our unguarded side." 

"Aye, Captain." 

"Malcolm, what about those phasers?" 

A look of extreme concentration was evident on the younger man's face. "Preparing to fire... now!" 

All remaining eyes on the bridge focused onto the image in front of them, hoping, praying, that their weapons would find their mark. The bright red rays shot through the vacuum of space, colliding against the enemy ship's shields and... 

"Yes!" exclaimed Archer exuberantly, watching as their phasers tore a hole through the Terisian's defences. "Now, Malcolm!" 

The blue dot that was their last torpedo was launched from their ship and traveled towards the other vessel, finally hitting its' mark and creating a huge explosion of fire and heat on the Terisian's port nacelle. 

Everyone around him let out cheers of success and triumph. All watched as the Terisian's ship started to careen out of control and spin off into space, as several other explosions dotted the hull of the ship. 

The victory yells of the Enterprise crew continued for a few more moments until Archer noticed a green projectile approaching his ship, coming from the dying Terisian vessel. 

"Malcolm, what is tha-" he started quickly. 

"Torpedo!" screamed out the security officer, seconds before the enemy weapon slammed into Enterprise's portside shields, and hitting their port nacelle glancingly. 

The ship rocked under their feet, knocking most of them to the ground. The lights flicked off, then back on again, and sparks flew from various spots around the bridge. 

Crewmembers moaned and groaned from their spots on the floor, and some didn't even move at all. 

Archer pulled himself up into his seat, and wiped away the blood that had clotted on his forehead. He once again pressed the comm. unit, and demanded reports from various areas of ships. Most sections were fine, but Engineering was not answering. 

Finally, after several repeated hails, a tired and weary voice responded. "Ensign O'Malley here, Captain. There is a lot of damage down here, two dead, ten injured. The port nacelle's been stabilized for now, and the aft one is running on half power." 

As Archer took all of this in, he realized that he had not heard from Trip yet. He said so to Ensign O'Malley. 

"Captain, there was too much damage caused to the port nacelle with that last torpedo. Commander Tucker, he..." The young ensign's voice faltered as she tried to get all of the information out. "He's hurt real bad, Captain. The doctor's not quite sure if he's gonna make it. I'm sorry." 

"Understood." Archer managed to croak out, before he terminated the conversation. He got up quickly, and seeing that everyone was being attended to, made his way down to sickbay to check on the casualties the latest fight in the Delphic Expanse had cost them.

*Okay, I kinda stole the idea for Trip's injuries from the upcoming episode, Simlitude, but I DO have a different plotline. Hopefully, you liked this, and I anticipate the next part being up soon,

-Aelan*


	2. Chapter Two

As he stepped into the turbolift and the doors swished closed behind him, Archer placed a hand onto the nearby wall to steady himself. _Not Trip_, he thought to himself, _God no_...

The trip down to Sickbay took what felt like hours. His worry and fear for his best friend overwhelmed his senses, and several times he had to stop and will himself to take control. 

Finally, he found himself in front of the infirmary's doors, and with one last intake of air, he stepped through.   
  
What he found was unnerving and, quite frankly, horrible. The burned and charred figures of the members of his crew were lying around him, on the various biobeds and even one on a nearby counter. Phlox was jumping from person to person as his assistants followed behind, giving the patients the medication and help that they needed to survive.

He hesitated only a moment, then walked right in. "Phlox," he started, getting the doctor's attention briefly, "I'd like a report when you have the chance."

The Denobulan nodded swiftly, the turned back to his remaining two patients. Archer waited nervously, giving the assistants a hand when needed. After about ten minutes, the doctor signalled for him to come over, and he did.

"Fifteen injured, Captain, five minor, nine with superficial burns and one critical."

Archer could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he asked his next question. "And... Trip?"

The doctor wiped his forehead with the back of his hand as he contemplated his answer. 

"Commander Tucker was injured while he tried to stop a warpcore breach, or so Ensign O'Malley tells me. A plasma duct exploded while he was running repairs... forty percent of his body has second degrees, Captain, and most of it on his legs and arms. I'm just thankful that it didn't do more. He also has a concussion from his fall of off the walkway."

"Wh-what are his chances?" Archer asked as he soaked in everything.

"Physically, he will heal. Mentally and emotionally... the human mind is a very fragile thing, Captain. I'm not sure that he will ever fully recover, and even if he did, he will not be the Trip that we knew before." warned the doctor, his large blue eyes conveying his sympathy.

Jonathon cleared his throat, then asked one final thing: "May I see him?"

The Denobulan nodded, although he continued by adding, "I have him sedated. The pain 

from the burns is intense, and I didn't feel that keeping him awake was doing anything for him."

Phlox led him over to the farthest, most secluded part of Sickbay, where a curtain had been pulled around a biobed. The doctor motioned for Archer to enter, then left to attend to his other patients.

The captain of the Enterprise took a moment to compose himself, preparing himself physically and mentally for the sight of his injured friend. A moment passed, then he pulled back the curtains and stepped in.

There, on the biobed, lay his long-time friend, wrapped up in white bandages, some darkened with the evidence of the blood seeping through. He stepped forwards, feeling his eyes sting with unshed tears. He blinked them away, feeling the need, more than ever, to be the stoic, starship captain.

But, nonetheless, the sight of his normally exuberant and enthusiastic chief engineer lying on a cold mattress in the ship's infirmary, so still and helpless, was unnerving. He sat down on the edge of the bed, and looked down to his injured friend.

"Hang in there, Trip," he whispered softly to the unconscious man, "Hang on."

*Sorry about the short chapter, but I'm writing the next one right now! Hope you like it.

~Aelan*


	3. Chapter Three

The harsh lights of sickbay were what first assaulted his eyes as he cautiously blinked them open. With a groan, he tried to move his head to the side, but was instead met with the sensation of blinding pain. A small yelp escaped Trip Tucker's lips as he tried to somehow assuage his eyes from the bright lights of the infirmary.

Finally, something blocked out the light. He sighed to himself in relief, then focused his eyes onto the object in question. Smiling Denobulan eyes greeted his sight.

"Hey Doc." he mumbled, realized that his throat was slightly raw. "Wh-what am I doing here?"

For just a second, he thought he saw Phlox's smile falter, but he shook his head and thought that he had imagined it.

"What's the last thing you remember, Commander?" asked the doctor gently.

Pausing a moment, the young commander racked his brain trying to think of it. "Uh, well, the Terisians were attacking, and the Cap'n was asking me for more power. The port nacelle started to fluctuate and..." His face went blank. "That's the last thing I remember."

"That was two days ago, Commander." stated the doctor softly. "You've been asleep for the past 22 hours."

Charles Tucker shot him an incredulous look. "What ha-happened to me?"

Phlox sighed. "The plasma conduits near you exploded while you were performing repairs; you have second degree burns to forty percent of your body and a mild concussion. The concussion should be better within the week, but your skin and underlying tissue is severely injured. You'll have to be off duty for at least four weeks."

The other man's eyes widened in shock. "But, it's just burns, right? So why's it gonna take so long to heal?"

"Plasma burns are a strange occurrence. They are different from other burns in many ways, and they usually are much more severe. Your outer limbs will be fine in time, but they need time to heal properly."

Trip's mouth opened a few times, as if he was trying to say something, but nothing came out. Finally, after a few moments, he looked right into Phlox's ice blue eyes. "What am I gonna look like after this?"

Phlox sighed. "There will be some scarring, but I can minimize that with some plastic surgery afterwards. What I am most concerned about is your mental healing."

"I'm not crazy, doctor."

"No, you're not. But with the added stress of being cooped up for a month and the residual stress from the Xindi attack on Earth, I am concerned. T'Pol has be helping you with neuro-pressure, has she not?"

A strange emotion flickered across Trip's eyes before he answered. "Yes, she has."

"I will ask her to keep helping you through this, too. Hopefully she won't mind."

The doctor turned to Trip's monitor, and noticing a sharp peak in his heart rate, ordered the commander to get some sleep. "We'll talk about this more in the morning." he reassured the younger man.

Trip felt his eyes get heavy with the burden of sleep, and he closed them to strange dreams of a beautiful woman with pointed ears.

TBC


End file.
